


Flight of Fancy

by quizasvivamos



Category: Glee
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 11:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3379496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quizasvivamos/pseuds/quizasvivamos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt is having the worst day ever. After a series of mishaps, he misses his flight to Ohio. While down to his last straw, sitting miserable and alone in JFK International Airport, Kurt has a chance meeting with a stranger who has a certain way about him that just might turn Kurt’s fortune around, and, at the least, make his day a little brighter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flight of Fancy

Kurt was furious. Huffing and puffing in attempt to catch his breath, he had made it to the gate just in time to see the plane, the one he was supposed to be on, rolling away and entering the runway.

He swore under his breath, cursing the fact that he’d quite possibly been having the worst day ever: he’d slept through his alarm, spilled his coffee on his shirt and pants, had to change about five times because of it, dropped his phone in a puddle, snagged his jacket on the turnstile in the subway and nearly face-planted, and now he’d missed his plane, the one he was taking back to Ohio to see his dad who’d been undergoing hormone therapy and had a doctor’s appointment during which he’d find out whether or not he was cancer-free, and Kurt wanted,  _needed_  to be there by his side during it.  

He’d been so nervous about everything that he’d been losing sleep, hadn’t been eating much, and couldn’t concentrate at work, often catching himself making careless mistakes and having to rip apart entire garments to fix them.

Kurt felt like he’d been losing a lot of things lately, sleep, his appetite, focus, hope. But losing his father was not an option, and Kurt worried himself to the brink of exhaustion and insanity, wondering what he would do if he did.

He was angry, pissed at the world for working against him at every turn, for threatening to take every last one he loved away from him, his mom, his step-brother, and now his father, his rock, wondering what he had done wrong to deserve the hand he was dealt. And if there was a God, Kurt thought he was an enormous dick. But he knew that allowing anger to consume him would only make matters worse, so Kurt hurried to the customer service desk to see if he could exchange his ticket for the next flight back to Dayton.

If nothing else, he had to keep his head on his shoulders and keep moving forward.

At least one thing had worked out in his favor. New boarding pass in hand, Kurt found a seat by the new gate where he’d luckily only have to wait for about two hours. He sighed in relief and resignation as he collapsed into the chair by the window, crossing his legs and his arms over his chest, his gaze dropping to the floor.

Having nothing to occupy or amuse himself with during his wait, Kurt sat in silence until his leg began to shake, and he stared absentmindedly at his foot as it bounced up and down up and down until he swore he felt eyes on him. His body stilled, and he glanced up, his eyes meeting a pair of golden-hazel ones that were brazenly watching him. And then their owner grinned this dazzling, sort of cocky, perfect movie-star grin that made Kurt’s stomach drop.

Then dark-haired James Dean did something that Kurt couldn’t believe: he rose from his seat, rolled his suitcase over toward where Kurt was situated, and then plopped down in the seat directly next to him.

Just about every other seat in the area was vacant, yet he’d chosen the one right beside Kurt.

“Why?” Kurt found himself saying without thinking.

The man laughed. “For the outlet, of course. It’s the only one I see, and I need to charge my phone.”

Kurt quirked an eyebrow at him, entirely unconvinced, but remained tight-lipped.

The man reached down and pulled his charger out of his bag and proceeded to plug it in. He quickly turned back to Kurt. “I’m sorry, I guess I should have asked if you needed it first. Do you?”

“No, I - no, um, my phone’s currently out of commission. It fell in a puddle this morning.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, his smile falling away. Faltering, he plugged his phone in and set it aside atop his suitcase.

“Why are you really sitting next to me?” Kurt said, feeling unusually bold.

“Because I had a nice view from where I was sitting, but I wanted to get a closer look. My name’s Blaine, by the way.” He held his hand out to Kurt who took it and briefly shook it.

“Kurt. And you’re very straightforward.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Kurt,” Blaine said. “And I might as well be, considering we’re both stuck here waiting for a flight that’s not coming anytime soon.”

“So what brings you here so early?” Kurt asked. “I thought I’d be the only loser sitting here, no offense.”

“None taken. My flight was delayed, so I switched my ticket over for the one going to Dayton rather than Columbus. What about you?”

“I missed my flight,” Kurt said.

“Wow. So, you dropped your phone in a puddle,  _and_  you missed your flight?”

“And then some.”

“Doesn’t seem to be your day, does it, Chuck.”

“Not at all.”

“Well, you just so happen to be in luck, because the doctor is in. But, really, if it’s any consolation, I’m headed back to my hometown in Ohio because my mom’s going in for a surgery.”

Kurt didn’t respond, he just shook his head and averted his eyes.

Blaine cleared his throat. “So why are you flying out west and leaving New York?”

“My dad has cancer,” Kurt said quietly.

“Maybe I should change the subject now. I’m really sorry I asked. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s okay. You said your mom is getting a surgery…is she okay?”

“Yeah, um,” Blaine began to laugh nervously. “It’s nothing serious. She’ll be fine, but I just wanted to be there with her. Haven’t seen her since Christmas, anyway, so I figured I owe her a visit.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Kurt said earnestly.

Blaine looked down at his wristwatch, and his mouth stretched in a silent yawn. “I’m gonna go get some coffee,” he said, rising to his feet. “Would you like some? Or, anything else - if you’re not a coffee guy, that is.”

“No, no, I am, but, no, thank you. I’m fine,” Kurt said.

“That was a lot of ‘no’s,” Blaine said with a small smirk. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”

“You really want to buy a stranger coffee?” Kurt said, tilting his head to the side.

“You’re not a stranger, Kurt. But even if you were, I’d ask you to go get coffee with me.”

Kurt laughed. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Are you asking me to go get coffee with you? Like, on a date?” Kurt said, narrowing his eyes playfully.

“Maybe,” Blaine said, that cocky smile making a reappearance.

“A coffee date in an airport?”

“Possibly. If you’re, you know, into that sort of thing.”

“Well aren’t you charming,” Kurt jested. “I honestly don’t think I can say no to you.”

“You already have -” Blaine pretended to count on his fingers. “At least five times.”

“I have not,” Kurt said in mock indignation. “Now just because you’ve accused me of that, I’m saying  _yes_.”

Blaine pumped his fist in the air. “It worked!”

“Wait just a second. I didn’t agree to anything,” Kurt said with a huff.

“C’mon, I’m serious. Grab your bags. There’s a Starbucks down the hall and around the corner. It’ll be my treat.”

The invitation was very tempting. Kurt thought about how he’d not even been able to enjoy his morning coffee, and he opened his mouth to mention it and add that onto his list of woes, but then decided against it. “If you insist,” Kurt said instead, rising to his feet to follow Blaine’s lead.

“I’m happy you changed your mind. Besides, I think we could both use a pick-me-up.”

“Truer words have never been spoken, so you got me there.”

After ordering their drinks, Blaine swiped his card to pay, they retrieved them shortly after, and then found a small table to settle down at.

Kurt sat with his cup resting between his palms, his gaze fixed on the tabletop, at a loss for words to even begin to engage in small talk. Even though Blaine had been so playful and easy to talk to, Kurt wasn’t in the mood to make much of an effort or open up any more than he already had.

Blaine saw it in Kurt’s eyes and knew he wouldn’t be much of a conversation partner, but that was okay. It wasn’t why he had invited him along and offered to buy him a drink. Blaine knew that sometimes people just needed company, even if they had to wrestle their demons alone.

“Hey, Kurt,” Blaine said, grabbing his attention. “So, the world’s got you down, and nothing seems to be going right, right? But, look, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, you’ve got coffee, and you just made a new friend,” Blaine said, his lips curling into a hopeful smile.

Kurt sighed and couldn’t help but smile as he met Blaine’s eyes. “I did, didn’t I. And to think that I had to put virtually no effort into it,” Kurt joked. “In fact, it’s probably the least amount of energy I ever put into anything in my life.”

“Sometimes you don’t have to give to receive. Sometimes when you’ve had enough lemons dropped on you, the universe gives you a break and just gives you the lemonade - or, er, well, in this case, it’s a latte.”

“You have such a strange brand of wisdom,” Kurt said. “On one hand, it’s clichéd and silly - bizarre, even - but on the other hand, it all makes sense. I just hope that your sunny optimism finds a way to rub off on me, because I’ve never felt more like a walking time bomb. If one more thing goes wrong, I’m just gonna blow and bring down the world around me with me.”

“It’s okay to feel the way you do. I get it. It can’t be easy to deal with the stuff you’re facing, but, even though I just met you, I know you’ll pull yourself out of it. All in due time. Just try not to blame yourself for things you can’t change.”

Kurt couldn’t bring himself to argue with Blaine, so he let it all go, let it all roll off his back, and spent the remainder of the coffee date just appreciating that this rather attractive and kind man chose Kurt to bestow his presence upon and was making attempts at cheering him up with seemingly no ulterior motive. Blaine was genuinely a nice guy.

There was nothing he could ask of Kurt in return, save for his mutual company. And that seemed to be enough for him.

It was nice, Kurt decided. Finally, something that was easy.

After beverages were consumed and bellies warm and full, they returned to the gate, feeling a little lighter and glad that they’d successfully killed about an hour, knowing that the last leg of their wait would fly by.

More people had gathered in the waiting area at the gate, occupying several of the seats now. Their seats from earlier had been taken, but they found two others and settled down.

Kurt watched as Blaine took his phone out, plugged a pair of earbuds into it, and popped them in. He brought up his music library on the screen, turned on shuffle, and then hit play. After a few moments, Blaine pulled the one earbud out of his ear and surprised Kurt again when he offered it to him. Kurt grinned and took it, a wordless thank you passing between them, and his head was soon filled with upbeat, Top 40 hits, the likes of which he hadn’t listened to since high school.

He allowed it to flow through him, filling him up with a strange sense of joy, not only from the melodies and lyrics, but from sharing the experience with Blaine.

The time drew nearer to departure, and Blaine turned the music off, packed the earbuds away, and slid his phone into his pocket. They talked about the songs, sharing mostly happy memories of the times they’d first heard certain ones and were most influenced by them. They’re conversation concluded when the voice came over the loudspeaker and began to call zones for passengers to board.

“So, which seat are you in?” Kurt asked, looking down at his pass where his seat assignment was printed.

Blaine pulled his boarding pass out of his pocket to check. “12 A. Nice! It’s a window seat.”

Kurt paused. “I’m in 12 B.”

They turned toward each other almost in sync, amusement alive in their expressions, and then their laughter rang out in the waiting area, earning them strange looks from the people seated around them.

“No way,” Blaine said before Kurt could, catching his breath. “What are the chances? It’s not even like it’s a small plane or anything.”

“Maybe it wasn’t chance,” Kurt said.

Blaine’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Do you ever think that some things happen for a reason? I can’t shake it now. It’s odd, but if I hadn’t had the absolute worst morning of my life, I wouldn’t be having the best day of my life now. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, and I wouldn’t have met you.”

There was a pregnant pause.

“You mean, like, fate?” Blaine finally said.

“Maybe,” Kurt said.  “If that’s not too weird to believe in.”

“I don’t think it’s weird,” Blaine said. “After all, we need something to believe in.”

They smiled at each other, their eyes locked and gazes lingered for just a moment too long, and then Kurt looked away, short of breath, feeling his face grow flush.

The announcement that their zone was now boarding came over the PA system, and they gathered up their things and joined the queue.

Kurt and Blaine stood beside each other, stealing glances every few seconds, their hands brushing once or twice by accident as they were ushered forward. And then they met again, with all the intention in the world. Kurt intertwined his fingers with Blaine’s, and they stepped onto the plane, making their way down the aisle.

Kurt was happy. Everything felt balanced, serene, and right. And although he couldn’t really explain it, he had nothing but the utmost hope and faith and knew that everything was going to be okay.

Perhaps he didn’t have to overthink everything. Sometimes things in life just happened as they were meant to. 


End file.
